Gilt Piping garnish.top

Case book

Four finished pieces, and the order they were built in

A cake is not a technique; it is a schedule. Each case below lists the surface, the decoration, the drying gaps and the point at which the piece stops being fixable. Everything used here is a card that has already been published on the site.

Case one: the three-rosette cupcake plate

Six cupcakes, crumb-coated and chilled flat, then three 1M rosettes per cupcake in velvet wine with a petal-pink stripe. Total piping time 22 minutes, of which 8 is spent re-loading the bag. Order: coat and chill 30 minutes, pipe all rosettes, then set 12 minutes in the fridge and 1 hour at room temperature before boxing. The failure point is the first hour - rosettes moved before the crust forms slide as a disc and cannot be re-seated.

Case two: the gold-on-ink single tier

A 20 cm single tier, crumb-coated in ink and finished with a 21 shell border at the base, a cornelli lace panel on the side and a 6B swirl on the top. Order: crumb coat, ink colour set 2 hours, cornelli panel (12 minutes), base border (7 minutes), swirls on top last. The lace goes on before the border so the border can cover the lace ends; the swirls go on last because they are the tallest element and everything else is piped around them.

Case three: the bouquet top

A 15 cm round with two 104 roses, one primrose cluster and four fern fronds on the top surface only. Order: pipe the roses on nails, chill 20 minutes, transfer; then primroses; then ferns last, working from the outside in. Ferns last is the rule: they pass behind flowers, and a frond piped first will be crushed by the palette knife when the roses are transferred.

Case four: the woven side

A 20 cm cake with a full basketweave side in ink and wine, a shell border top and bottom and three swiss-dot trails on the top surface. This is the longest build on the site: 44 vertical ribs and 22 horizontal passes for the weave, about 40 minutes of piping, plus a 10 minute rest between the top and bottom borders. The basketweave goes on before the borders because the border hides the rib ends; the dot trails go on last, on the top surface, where nothing can brush them.

Cards that pair with this page

Cards that pair with this page

These are released cards, ready to pipe from.

French Swirl with Wilton 6B — piped lace medallion

French Swirl with Wilton 6B

Ten narrow teeth, a deep centre and the tall swirl that makes a cake look two tiers high.

Wilton 6B Medium Intermediate Rosettes
Classic Piped Rose with Wilton 104 — piped lace medallion

Classic Piped Rose with Wilton 104

The fourteen-petal rose that has been the standard since the 1950s, piped on a flower nail.

Wilton 104 Stiff Intermediate Sugar Flowers
Primrose with Wilton 104 — piped lace medallion

Primrose with Wilton 104

Five strokes, one flat flower - the fastest piped bloom that still looks like a real species.

Wilton 104 Medium Intermediate Sugar Flowers
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